At one point it looked almost certain that Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury would lock horns in an all-British clash.
After the latter’s famous win in Germany, ending Vladimir Klitschko’s nine-year reign as champion to win the WBA, IBF and WBO titles there was a great deal of demand to see the pair go to battle.
Despite only turning professional a little over two years ago Joshua had already began to establish a serious reputation and was being touted as one of Britain’s brightest prospects to become a world champion.
He had amassed 14-straight knockout victories and was yet to be taken beyond the third round ahead of Fury’s world title fight against Klitschko.
Just a few weeks after that memorable night in Dusseldorf Joshua continued to grow in stature, adding the British title to his collection with a thrilling victory over bitter rival Dillian Whyte.
Four months later and suddenly Joshua was also a world champion, taking just two rounds to dispatch of Charles Martin and win the IBF heavyweight title.
All of a sudden the hugely anticipated ‘battle of Britain’ showdown between Joshua and Fury had become even more of a scintillating prospect.
The thought of a unification fight between two British heavyweights was utterly tantalizing but Joshua was so keen do battle he said he wanted to fight Fury regardless of whether he was victorious in a rematch against Klitschko.
However, that bout never took place and even when a later date was set the fight still didn’t go ahead, with Fury being declared medically unfit to box.
A month later the chances of the Wythenshawe-born fighter returning to the ring looked remote when his boxing licence was stripped after admitting he was using cocaine whilst struggling with depression.
Despite that Fury planned to box again earlier this year but was stopped in his tracks because of a National Anti-Doping Panel.
All the while Joshua continued to extend his unbeaten record, including most recently stopping Klitschko in the 11th round during what proved to be an enthralling encounter.
Just this week Joshua was asked again about his appetite for a fight with Fury and he refused to rubbish the idea, admitting he was more than happy to get in the ring with the 29-year-old.
"if he wants to get in the ring and he shows he can move about and control that weight, people will watch him."
After Fury talked of ‘three big fights’ in 2018 could the two Brits finally be about to go head-to-head?
First of all Fury needs to regain his licence and also needs to work at returning to a fighting weight, recently admitting he was 25 stone.
As long as Joshua also comes through his bout with Carlos Takam this weekend then there could well be a hotly-anticipated clash towards the end of next year.
The only other factor that may get in the way is Joshua’s ambition to claim the other two heavyweight titles from Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.
With the elite pros only stepping into the ring two or three times a year unification bouts may take precedent.
